It’s funny that time changes how we remember people. As sand continues to drop to the bottom of the hourglass, memories get sketchy and history becomes distorted.

In the case of the late Tupac Shakur, his history has been completely re-written in the ten years following his untimely death.

My colleagues in the industry seem to paint Pac almost totally in his “Thug Life” state, as if there were no other sides to the man known as Mr. Shakur.

And to this blatant attempt at character assassination by fans and members of the media, I say ENOUGH!

For the last ten years, Tupac has been portrayed as a conflicted individual, who was able to weave together tales of hardship and pain, love, death and of course, thug life.

However, the self destructive years of his life threaten to eliminate the more conscious and politically aware side of Shakur that many of his earlier fans fell in love with.

That side often goes conveniently dormant when his name is scribed in the pages of magazines, spoken on television or typed on the net.

Before All Eyez on Me, before Makaveli, Before East vs. West, there was a revolutionary and highly political side of Pac that people either don’t remember or care about.

Holla if ya hear me.

Pac was RBG before dead prez and in similar fashion to members of the Black Panther Party (Check the Shakur family lineage), his street dream was deferred in a hail of gun fire on the Las Vegas strip.

While we can’t bring Tupac back, we can stop the assassination of his character and memory. He is more than the angry Black male he’s often portrayed as and overlooking that in the interest of TV time constraints or article word counts does more harm than good.

More than a common crook and much more than a “gangsta” rapper.

Tupac was many things to many people, however there is one thing that cannot be disputed. In spite of all the “bitches” uttered in his music, despite the vengeance he unleashed on enemies, from the cradle to the grave Mr. Shakur was about empowering and uplifting his people.

Empowerment and uplift, two things this Hip Hop generation have thrown by the wayside, but two things we need not forget.

In your efforts to emulate Pac, are you tearing down your brothers or lifting them up?

Are you treating your women as queens, or aiding their downward spiral?

For every "Hit em Up", there was a "When My Homies Call", for every "Why We Call U Bitch", there was a "Keep Your Head Up."

Pac was, and is the closest thing this generation has to a revolutionary. His undeniable influence on fans probably scared the hell out of the powers that be. Think about it, when was the last time politicians really came out against a rapper (Eminem doesn’t count)? Continued on page 2 »